Aluminum canoe metal?

[Guest]

Does anyone know the different "alloys" used in different brands of aluminum canoes? I know some are super tough and some not. I have heard some are "tempered aluminum". I'm thinking of buying a beater/pond canoe.
Thanks,Turtle

 

[BWCA66]

In MN Alumicraft is king. Not sure about different alloys but I know that alumicraft has different weight aluminum canoes. They do this by using thinner material, lower profiles, smaller thwarts, etc. I have a 17 ft one that weighs 53 lbs but they don't make them anymore. I think because folks treated them like tanks and the light weight ones didn't hold up. My tank, a 76 lbs version that I bought 40 years ago is current all torn apart waiting to be rebuild with wood trim just for the heck of it. It's my beater pond jumper.

 

[yellowcanoe]

You ought to be able to find Grumman or Marathon canoes in your neck of the woods. Never seen many other brands. We have Grummans at our saltwater camp. They are over 40 years old. Some pitted from salt but the only maintenance is checking for loose or broken rivets and putting auto bondo on for a quick fix

 

[pblanc]

I think that most quality aluminum canoes were made with 6051 or 6061 aluminum alloy. The 6xxx designates an alloy where the main alloying ingredients are magnesium and silicon. I am pretty sure that Aluma-craft, Michi-craft, Grumman, and Osagian all used one or the other of these alloys so if you stick with one of those brands you should be OK. The thickness varied. Standard gauge was 0.50" but ultralight models were as thin as .032".

 

[Guest]

I know grummans are tough. I see some other brands for sale real cheap though. My scout troop had a couple of grumman lightweights on an Algonquin trip,and one was holed by setting it down on a small sharp rock. Arctic cat snowmobiles used to use"tempered aluminum" that was way tougher than the other brands. You could hardly cut it.
Turtle

 

[Guest]

Does anyone know the different "alloys" used in different brands of aluminum canoes? I know some are super tough and some not. I have heard some are "tempered aluminum". I'm thinking of buying a beater/pond canoe.

I don’t know which companies used which alloys. Grumman still lists the specs for various models, which today seems to be .050 thickness for everything. I know that they made athinner/ lighter weight version of some canoes in the past, and I’d swear that they once offered a thicker aluminum option as well.

http://www.marathonboat.com/grummancanoes.asp

I think .050 is middle of the spectrum, with those awful Sportspals and Raddisons practically beer can thin at the bottom end. And some other aluminum oddities at the top end of the scale.

One of the surprisingly tough (and heavy) aluminum canoes was the Sea King line, sold by Montgomery Ward. I don’t know who built them for Wards, not Grumman (the construction was noticeably different), probably whoever was building their Sea King rowboats and outboards at the time. Those canoes were seriously overbuilt, and the 15 foot version was hereabouts an early white water solo in the 60’s. Those things were tough as nails.

Which is to say if you find some off-brand aluminum canoe used, cheap and close enough to check out, you might find a gem.